Here is Liz in her latest "disguise" as Hermione of Harry Potter fame. She was on her way to a Harry Potter fun day at our neighborhood pool.(despite the long coat and scarf).My children are really enjoying the Harry Potter books. We have three copies of the latest book and all are finished. My seventeen year old waited in line at Borders at midnight and then heard you could buy it at Krogers with no line. He and his friends went to Krogers, bought their copies, went through the Wendy's drive-thru, and started reading in the parking lot. Well, I guess several teenagers sitting in a parking lot, all quietly looking at their laps looks suspicious. A police car pulled up behind them with its lights flashing!!!! The officer came up to the car and asked what they were doing. They explained they had just gotten something to eat and were reading their new Harry Potter books. Did he want them to leave? He burst out laughing and said no, they were fine. LOL
I'm sure someone will say I am not really Catholic for allowing my children to read Harry Potter. I have seen no harm come from it. They seem to be imaginative and intriguing stories (although admittedly a little dark). And there is clearly something very good coming from the phenomenom. We have children and young people of all ages sitting down with a 759 page book!!! (Not a video! Not a computer game! A book!!!!! Yea!)
23 comments:
I love Harry Potter. I think the book could be problematic for children whose parents aren't really raising them, but you are involved in the lives of your kids and you catechize them very well so, for them, it is mere entertainment. I would imagine it also allows for some fun conversations with the family. I don't see your youngsters running off to a witch school anytime soon, so I would agree that there's no harm.
Thank you, Daniel. Your opinion means a lot to me because I know you know the kids so well and they respect you so much.
Rosemary, my older son and his friends all met at the Harry Potter event at a local bookstore. They have spent the last few days on instant-messenger, TALKING ABOUT THE BOOK. I know that my son knows what fiction is, and that he knows what we believe. So I'm happy to let him read these books.
Hi Rose!
We drove down to South Bend JUST for the Harry Potter festivities at the--dare I say--Notre Dame bookstore! WHAT a blast for our whole family. The cast of characters entertained everyone while waiting in line. Upon entering the store, the kids were "sorted" by the sorting hat. There was a maze, a photo op with Harry Potter(he looked JUST like him!), Dumbledore read aloud etc. etc. and when one completed all of the activiteis, s/he received a diploma from Hogwart's as well as a chocolate frog. They served Harry Potter-themed desserts at the cafe'--what a memorable event for our family. Paul finished the book the next day and Joey can't wait to get started. JK Rowling is an inspiration, so my (witch's =0))hat off to her for all of it!
Love,
Mary
I'm another Harry Potter fan, so you aren't going to get any grief from me. And, I think that, especially in the last one, there are significant Christian themes.
Liz looks adorable!
SFO, me too.
Mary, wow, that sounds like a fabulous Harry Potter party. Oh my goodness, wait till my kids here about it.
btw, we have one of Joey's ND shirts here from the party. There's a chocolate stain on it that I'm working on. (a personal challenge:-) I've washed it twice, with shout each time, and it's pretty faint now. I'm going to try once more. LOL (And thank you so much for lighting the candle..)
Mimi, Christian themes? interesting. I need to read it. So many people I really respect are enjoying them.
Hi Rosemary!
I stumbled onto your blog from clicking on a link at another Catholic mom's blog. The Harry Potter picture caught my attention. We are Catholics trying to faithfully follow the Church's teaching, and we are Harry fans as well. I read the first three books aloud to my kids years ago, and then let them read the others. I read...or listened...to all the books so I'd know what they were reading and we could discuss them...but who am I kidding??? I wanted to read the next installments in the saga! :-)
It does trouble me that Catholics bash Harry Potter, ESPECIALLY when they haven't read any of the books, but are only parroting what they've heard, or are quoting stuff that is (though they don't know it) from the satirical publication "The Onion".
This a.m. on my car radio, I was listening to EWTN, and the woman mentioned that a bunch of the Church's exorcists are having a meeting, and one of their topics of discussion is all the occult influences in our culture, "like Harry Potter". I don't know if she just added that, or if the exorcists are really discussing HP. I wonder if any of them have read it?
I did read Book #7, a great story, and yes, there is MUCH Christian symbolism in it. Someone's tombstone bears the inscription, "Where your treasure is, there you heart will be also." Hmmm...that sounds familiar! Lots more religious connections, but I don't want to give away any spoilers.
Hey, Rose! (And Daniel Newville! Mr. Newville, how are you? I'm Ted Z's mom!)
Teddy LOVED the seventh book, and is more than half way through reading it aloud to me. (I'm spoiled, I know.)
Not to give a spoiler, but in Book 7 there is a direct quote from Matthew 6:21 - "For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be." I'm not done with the book, so I don't know its importance, but I assume it will be important.
My husband (also finished reading the book) commented on how many references to God are in this book.
Ruthann
I think some Christians are worried about HP because there are plenty of kids who are poorly catechized and who are interested in spiritual realities. The concern is that those kids may read the HP book, see some scripture passages and some Christian themes and think that witchcraft is a Christian thing, and therefore permissible.
I'd be very cautious about trying to read HP as a Christian book, even if there are themes and scripture passages in it.
I'd take it for what it is - a very entertaining story about good overcoming evil, with some good examples of friendship and self-sacrifice. I don't know what I'm going to read now that I'm done with HP. Hopefully something just as entertaining will come along.
Hi Mrs. Zaroff! Good to hear from you. Tell Ted I said hi.
By the way, Rose, I like the glasses!
Oh HP is great Christian fiction!! There is a great book by Nancy Brown called The Mysteries of Harry Potter: A Catholic Family Guide.
You HAVE to read them!!! I read that 759 page book in about three days. Would have been less if I had no children, lol!
You realize though that Liz is wearing the Ravenclaw colors... not Gryffindor, lol.
Daniel, It isn't just a Christan theme so much as Harry Potter being saved by Christian symbols for Christ, which no christian should have argument with: I.e. The Philosophers Stone which of course is Christ, the stag (think St Hubertus), the griffin (medieval symbol of Christ, the hippogrif, etc...Rowling is well educated in literary symbols and pulled the wool over the watchful dragons...sorry this is so hurried but the kids are asking me questions and I am attempting to answer while I write.
How I wished I knew of some Harry Potter parties for my kids!
PS There are two biblical references in the book btw
Oh, how funny! That cop must have had a good chuckle with the guys at the station over how he almost arrested some kids for reading in public!!! Your girl looks so cute! I can't wait to read the last HP, my mother and father in law are going to borrow their copy to me. I am patient, but it's having to wait for the book aaaand summer tomatoes BOTH that's killing me!
Patty, thank you for visiting my blog. Exorcist? My goodness, hopefully, she just added that example herself.
Ruthann, that's certainly a Christian theme.
Daniel, great glasses, huh?
Amy Caroline, how interesting. A catholic guide. And Liz is wearing Ravenclaw colors? LOL (It's actually a Notre Dame scarf. I don't think she knew it was Ravenclaw colors.)
Diana, no Harry Potter parties at your local bookstores?
Laura, I thought the cops suspecting them of something was pretty funny too. They were guilty as charged-- not being patient enough to wait until they got home to start reading...LOL
Daniel, that is a very good point about many teen readers being poorly catechized. I agree that in a case like that, HP could be a dangerous read. So could a LOT of what's out there in the popular fiction world, for that matter.
I think it boils down to knowing your child and what he/she can handle.
She does favor Hermoine in her smile a bit!
Barb,
Thanks for understanding my point. My other point being, Rose does an excellent job teaching her children, who are all amazing, wonderful, thoughtful, and bright. If all parents raised their children the way you guys do, we wouldn't hear some of the silly objections to what should be harmless books, such as HP.
God bless!
Awww, Daniel, what a sweet thing to say. By God's grace my kids are all doing fine so far. But, it must be said, that whatever we have done right has been supported in an amazing way by our parish-school community. Pine Hills Camp which is pretty synonymous with you, Daniel(the director), Lifeteen, Father Ed, our fabulous grade school where there are some wonderful faith-filled teachers like you, Daniel, (smile) have had a huge positive and supportive influence on our family. Thanks for your kind words. Moms live to hear words like that. (smile)
Harry Potter i littered with Christian themes throughout. In the final book there are scripture quotes in the Godric's Hollow chapter. I have found that Dumbledore has paraphrased scripture a couple of times, as well. I was concerned about HP when my older children were reading them and some of our friends told me they were evil, and a priest recommended Looking for God in Harry Potter by John Granger. I believe there is no harm in reading the books. A friend of mine put it this way: "Sure, waving a wnad around to get things done would be great, but if being able to do so meant denouncing Christ, what would your choice be?"
If your children are anything like you, there is no question they would choose Christ!
Be blessed!
Christine
Interesting comment. thank you, Christine.
she looks pretty good! Very much like Hermione!
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